By Adam Gartrell, Political Correspondent

It was the One Nation snorkelling trip meant to prove that the coral bleaching of the Great Barrier Reef was nothing more than a "green lie".

Senators Pauline Hanson, Brian Burston and Malcolm Roberts chartered a commercial catamaran and a glass-bottom boat – with an entourage of at least 25 staffers and media in tow – to inspect a small patch of the reef last November.

One Nation Senator Pauline Hanson assesses some coral near Great Keppel Island.Credit:AAP

They were pilloried at the time by conservationists who pointed out that the spot they chose – Great Keppel Island's Monkey Reef – was in an area unscathed by the bleaching that had inflicted widespread destruction further north.

Now Fairfax Media can reveal that the cruise was actually an expensive gift that Senator Hanson failed to declare, potentially putting her in breach of parliamentary rules and at risk of being found in contempt of the Senate.

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Parliamentary records show that all three One Nation politicians charged taxpayers for a return flight to Rockhampton – which was within their travel entitlements – and Senator Hanson and Mr Roberts also claimed travel allowance. But none of them used their charter entitlements to pay for the cruise.

The cruise was a gift from Freedom Fast Cats, a Yeppoon-based charter company.

Senator Hanson initially said there was no need to declare the cruise, contending it came in under the Senate's disclosure threshold of $300 and saying she would "make no apologies" for not listing it on her interests register.

But the One Nation leader did an abrupt about-face after Fairfax Media asked for a quote from Freedom Fast Cats for a similar private cruise package – and were told it would cost $4500. Even if responsibility for the trip was divided among the three offices, the value of the cruise would still be well over the disclosure threshold.

Pressed on this point, a spokesman for Senator Hanson said on Saturday: "While the Senator is of the understanding that any expenses associated with her visit to the reef were under the threshold for the sake of completeness she has decided it appropriate to update her register of interests."

Senators are required to update their register of interests within 35 days of accepting any gifts. It has been just over a year since the snorkelling trip.

Under these rules, any senator who fails to meet their obligations is at risk of "serious contempt of the Senate".

Labor's Murray Watt said this seemed to be "another example of Senator Hanson thinking she is above the law".

"She is already under investigation for not having disclosed the apparent donation of a campaign plane. In being caught out again, she is either incredibly sloppy or is deliberately hiding donations from businesses," Senator Watt said.

Shortly after the trip, Senator Hanson made a Facebook post thanking Max Allen from Freedom Fast Cats for showing her "the reef is alive and well".

"Tourist operators like the Freedom Fast Cats have seen visitors to the Island drop from an average of 200 per day to under 20 as a result of lies being told about the Great Barrier Reef dying," she told her 200,000 social media followers. "When domestic and international tourists are told by the Greens that the reef is dying of course they don't want to turn up."

At the time of the trip Mr Allen said the publicity around bleaching was just one of the factors that had hurt his business. A bigger problem was the closure of the Great Keppel Island Resort and the Capricorn Resort on the mainland.

Senator Hanson subsequently announced she wanted the Queensland government to approve a boutique casino licence for the Great Keppel Island Resort redevelopment.